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Mobile / park home licence

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The Mobile Homes Act 2013

This Act aims to improve housing standards, give greater protection to home owners and provide more effective enforcement action by local authorities regarding licence obligations.

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 amends the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 by introducing new provisions in relation to local authority powers with effect from 1st April 2014.

These powers are:

to charge fees for new residential site licences, licence transfers and variations;

to charge an annual fee to existing residential site licence holders;

to refuse a licence (or to refuse to transfer a licence) if necessary;

to serve and enforce ‘compliance notices’ and undertake emergency works together with the power to recover expenses and costs relating to works in default;

for the Local Authority to be the keeper of ‘Site rules.’ The Act allows a small fee to be charged for depositing these rules.

The 2013 Act has also introduced new laws to address malpractice across the mobile homes sector. For example, it removes opportunities for site operators to block sales and requires them to agree new site rules with park home residents. Many of these provisions are now in force but do not affect local authority powers and duties.

Applying for a licence or variation/transfer of a licence

If you use land as a caravan/mobile/park home site you will almost always need planning permission and a site licence from the Council.

New licence applications must be accompanied by a plan of the site and in some cases we may request further information from the applicant. If you wish to vary an existing licence, you will need to submit your request in writing using the contact details on this page.

Licence fees

A licence fee applies to new applications, transferring a licence and varying a licence. Fees are outlined in the fee policy document, which is available to download below:

Licence conditions

Every site licence will have conditions attached to it, which set out standards governing the layout of the park, provision of facilities and maintenance of the park. The local authority is responsible for ensuring that site licence conditions are met by the park owner.